Donald Stastny (Architecture Foundation of Oregon) BY BRIAN LIBBY The phrase "Honored Citizen" sounds like a euphemism for being old. I think I've even seen it used on laminated menus at Shari's, the ubiquitous restaurant and pie house chain, in...

Tim Eddy (Hennebery Eddy Architects) BY BRIAN LIBBY In the year 1992, a lot of things happened. Bill Clinton defeated George H.W. Bush (and Ross Perot) to end 12 consecutive years of Republican occupancy of the White House. Bosnia and...

Ed McMahon (Urban Land Institute) BY BRIAN LIBBY Historic Laurelhurst walking tour Laurelhurst is one of the most architecturally distinctive neighborhoods in Portland. With beginnings as a planned streetcar suburb, this area has a high concentration of early 20th century...

Karl Miller Center atrium (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY In a recent Portland Tribune column, I had the opportunity to write about Portland State University's new Karl Miller Center, the expanded home of its School of Business. So far I've...

Patrick Burke (Michael Graves Architecture & Design) BY BRIAN LIBBY For the latest issue of Architect Magazine, I had the opportunity to write about the Portland Building's somewhat controversial renovation, which will transform the building to such a degree that...

Fair-Haired Dumbbell (Architecture Foundation of Oregon) BY BRIAN LIBBY Explore Hidden Downtown Led by author Laura Foster as part of the City of Portland’s Ten Toe Express walk series is an invitation to explore the back streets and hidden pathways...

Multnomah Falls and the Columbia Gorge from The Shire (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY Today I went for a walk. It wasn't a long one, and it wasn't any different in path from the walks I take most days through...

Gustav Freiwald house, Portland (Wikimedia Commons) BY BRIAN LIBBY Historic Irvington walking tour Irvington started out as a streetcar suburb in the 1890s and by the 1920s had become one of the most prestigious residential neighborhoods in Portland. The Irvington...

Ancient Order of United Workmen Temple demolition (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY When doctors take the Hippocratic oath, they pledge to "first, do no harm," or as it literally translates from Latin, noxamvero et maleficium propulsabo: "I will utterly reject...

Franklin High School on the eve of grand re-opening (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY Nelson Mandela once wrote that education is the "most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Visiting the newly remodeled and expanded Franklin...

Architect George Nelson (Vitra) BY BRIAN LIBBY IIDA Oregon August forum Adam Call, director of the Herman Miller Collection at Herman Miller will be sharing a journey and celebration of American architect George Nelson. This lecture, entitled “George Nelson: Architect...

Z-Haus in North Portland (Stephen Miller) BY BRIAN LIBBY When I moved to downtown Portland 20 years ago, the east side seemed like a vast ocean that I knew little about, save for a few trips to the Baghdad Theater...

Suteki House (Justin Krug Photography) BY BRIAN LIBBY When the new Cultural Crossing complex of buildings at the Portland Japanese Garden was unveiled this spring, it not only transformed a beloved destinations, but also gave the city something it otherwise...

Fremont Bridge from NW Portland (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY The Pearl District: Preservation in the Midst Of Change Over the last 20 years, the Pearl has been transformed from an industrial area into one of Portland’s premier residential and...

Gil Frey and wife Joyce, Grand Floral Parade, 2016 (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY Eight years ago when Veterans Memorial Coliseum was threatened with demolition and a group of us banded together to form the Friends of Memorial Coliseum in...

Simple bank headquarters (Christian Columbres) BY BRIAN LIBBY Recently I had the opportunity to visit two new Portland offices while writing a pair of corresponding articles for Contract magazine: the Stoel Rives headquarters, with interiors by ZGF in a building...

Albina Yard (Jeremy Bittermann) BY BRIAN LIBBY The Pearl District: Preservation in the Midst Of Change Over the last 20 years, the Pearl has been transformed from an industrial area into one of Portland’s premier residential and retail districts. A...

Brian Cavanaugh (Architecture Building Culture) BY BRIAN LIBBY Since its founding in 2008, Portland's Architecture Building Culture has accrued a succession of awards and acclaim even as the firm has retained a somewhat low profile locally. Perhaps that's because nearly...

Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg (University of Oregon) BY BRIAN LIBBY In the early 2000s, the University of Oregon Department of Architecture partnered with nonprofit BetterBricks and other universities to create a series of what were called Daylighting Labs in Portland,...

Metropolitan Condominiums (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY The Pearl District – Then and Now The Pearl District was practically deserted 25 years ago. On this Positively Portland Walking Tour, attendees will see how the district has been transformed into a...

Rendering of Portland Building restoration (DLR Group) BY BRIAN LIBBY The conventional approach to restoring landmark works of historic architecture is to rehab what's there and not make any radical changes with materials or the design experience. But the Portland...

Energy modeling with Grasshopper (Energy Trust of Oregon) BY BRIAN LIBBY Old Town Historic District Walking Tour The commercial district near the historic Skidmore Fountain and the oldest standing buildings in downtown comprise this tour of Portland’s only National Historic...

Rendering of Providence Park expansion (Brooklyn Digital Foundry) BY BRIAN LIBBY Recently the Portland Timbers soccer team announced a new $50 million expansion to the east side of Providence Park that will add approximately 4,000 seats, bringing its capacity to...

Willamette Falls from future Riverwalk Phase 1 site (Brian Libby) BY BRIAN LIBBY Six days ago, I and a few reporters and politicians gathered at the corner of Main Street and Highway 99E in Oregon City to see up close...

A re-imagination of the Portland Building (Antonio Crossier) BY BRIAN LIBBY A few weeks ago during Design Week Portland, I happened to be speaking to a Portland State University architecture class taught by assistant professor Andrew Santa Lucia, just as...

A 1930s photograph of Portland by Minor White (Architectural Heritage Center) BY BRIAN LIBBY Pearl District: Preservation In The Midst Of Change Over the last 20 years, the Pearl has been transformed from an industrial area into one of Portland’s...

John Yeon, 1977 (John Hinchcliff) BY BRIAN LIBBY The new Portland Art Museum exhibit devoted to the life and career of John Yeon is a revelation. Seeing the totality of this Renaissance man's life blended together in one space —...

Members and leaders of the Oregon Black Pioneers (University of Oregon) BY BRIAN LIBBY On May 17, the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts will bestow its annual McMath Award for historic preservation to an organization rather...